When I was diagnosed with cancer, the question “Why me?” was a natural one. Later, when I survived but others with the same kind of cancer died, I also had to ask, “Why me?”

Suffering and death seem random, senseless.

The recent Aurora, Colorado, shootings — in which some people were spared and others lost — is the latest, vivid example of this, but there are plenty of others every day: from casualties in the Syria uprising to victims of accidents on American roads. Tsunamis, tornadoes, household accidents – the list is long.

As a minister, I’ve spent countless hours with suffering people crying: “Why did God let this happen?” In general I hear four answers to this question. Each is wrong, or at least Continue reading →

Israel Harel casts a completely new light on the New Testament book of Hebrews that will educate even the most seasoned Christ follower. The author explores the backdrop of Jewish culture and concerns into which the Epistle to the Hebrews was written, unpacking the references to Jewish history to help the modern reader (Jew or Gentile) better understand what Jesus has done for each of us. He explores the questions and difficulties addressed in the epistle, while discussing long-standing trends in Judaism and how Jesus fulfills Biblical Judaism and transcends Rabbinical Judaism. Through these discussions, one theme comes through loud and clear: the Epistle to the Hebrews is a strong call to intimacy with God in the Holy of Holies. It is a call to enter into the Sabbath rest of God, into the place where He is all in all.

Israel Harel was born to a secular Jewish family who came as pioneers to the Land of Israel in the early 20th century.
Israel heard the Gospel for the first time as a hippie in the early seventies. Not wanting anybody to tell him what to do, he ran away from God for six years. After living homeless in the streets and spending two and a half years in a mental hospital, Israel finally gave Continue reading →

The current debate over who can be exempted from military service is once again threatening to bring down Israel’s three-month-old unity government. The question as to whether or not Haredi Jewish men should serve in the military which first came up during the 1948 Israeli War of Independence has never been resolved. Avoiding the issue all these years has not helped. It’s only getting worse.

It all began when Prime Minister David Ben Gurion allowed 400 Haredi Jews a special exemption from military service “so that they could give themselves to study Torah and prayer.” The ruling was called “Torato Omanuto” from a Talmudic phrase meaning “Torah study is their occupation.” It allowed some Haradi to commit to prayer while most Jews would go Continue reading →

A couple of months ago a young Israeli man by the name of Yosi heard the Gospel from me and promised to come and study at my home. He has been coming twice a week and I have taught him only from the Tanach (Old Testament) and the richness of these Hebrew writings that are fulfilled in the Messiah, Yeshua. One lesson that I opened up for him was from Genesis 1:26 where it used the plural form for God (אלוהים = Elohim) “Then God (Elohim) said, ‘Let Us make man in our image (צלמנו), according to Our likeness (ונתמוד)…) Likeness in Hebrew is Continue reading →

80% of Israeli Jews believe in God; 63% don’t mix meat and milk, but 65% watch TV on Shabbat, according to the findings of an extensive study conducted by the Guttman Center at the Israel Democracy Institute and published Thursday.

Apart from the fact that four of five Israeli Jews believe in God, the study’s findings revealed that 77% are convinced that the world is guided by an “extraordinary force”, 72% believe that praying can improve a person’s situation, 67% are convinced that the Jews are the chosen people, and 65% think Torah and mitzvot are a divine order.

According to 34% of the respondents, a Jew who fails to observe mitzvot puts his fellow people in danger. Fifty-six believe in an “afterlife” and 51% believe in Continue reading →

The long awaited day arrived. The sun was dancing amongst the trees as the bus took Galilee women, Jewish and Arab women who meet together every other month for worship, prayer and fellowship, to have their meeting in the nature this time, at House of Light Land.

It was reviving for them to see the olive trees and the vine, some of them had Continue reading →

Muslim background followers of Jesus from various Middle Eastern countries met with their Messianic Jewish and Christian counterparts May 7 – 12 in the Old City of Jerusalem at Christ Church, the oldest Protestant Church in the Middle East. Although similar conferences have been held over the years in the Middle East, this is the first time such a gathering has been held in Israel.

At the Crossroads convened in the context of Isaiah’s vision of a highway that will Continue reading →